The label has also announced their first Kickstarter campaign, to help finance a new recording of Dimitri Tiomkin's score for director Alfred Hitchcock's 3D suspense thriller DIAL M FOR MURDER, with William Stromberg conducting the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra. More details can be found at this link.

Along with two cast albums, Kritzerland is releasing a CD pairing two scores by Danish composer Soren Hyldgaard, who passed on this May at the age of 55 -- the American revenge thriller RED (not to be confused with the Bruce Willis action comedy), starring Brian Cox, Kyle Gallner, Tom Sizemore and Kim Dickens; and the 2001 Danish documentary FAMILY.

Music Box has announced three new film music CDs - a remastered edition of Georges Delerue's score for the French documentary TV series TOURS DU MONDE, TOURS DU CIEL, featuring an additional cue plus a 2010 recording of a Delerue string quartet; Francis Lai's score for the 1970 romantic drama MADLY (aka The Love Mates); and Eric Demarsan's score for the French documentary TV series LA LEGENDE DES SCIENCES.

On October 12, Varese Sarabande will release a CD featuring the LP tracks to the hit 1985 comedy-mystery FLETCH, starring Chevy Chase and directed by Michael Ritchie. The tracks include a handful of score cues by Harold Faltermeyer (Beverly Hills Cop, Tango & Cash) plus songs including the catchy main theme "Bit by Bit." (La-La Land and Universal are hoping to release Faltermeyer's score for the sequel, Fletch Lives, as part of their Universal Pictures Film Music Heritage Collection series).

"'Little Miss Sunshine' echoes can be heard throughout, beginning and ending with the casting of Parker, who resembles Abigail Breslin quite closely. Each performance feels like an isolated incident. Cardellini alone makes a case for the script's tonal swings, though even she can't take your ears off the droning musical score or the thuddingly on-the-nose song selections of music supervisor Nic Harcourt. The movie originally carried the title 'Lost in Austin,' and was filmed in early 2014, before Netflix's 'Bloodline' premiered. It's barely a movie, but there's one shot of Cardellini's surprisingly nuanced Leanne, watching herself ecstatically on a tear-jerking morning show, that suggests a wilder, more fruitfully unstable film underneath the one we have."

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

BLIND - Amy Lee, Dave Eggar

"That analogy fits, but the schlocky presentation of Bill and Suzanne’s relationship robs the film of the heft it so desperately aspires to. Their rapport turns from prickly to rosy with little narrative prompting. About halfway through the film, she intentionally arrives earlier to one of their designated meetings at the care center, and they’re delighted to encounter each other when he walks in. The maudlin music leading into the scene, and the film’s transition to a warmer color palette, better conveys their sudden affection for each other than anything in the actual narrative. A later scene of Suzanne and Bill talking dirty while she shaves him with a straight razor feels hokey and unearned, as does their consummation, during which Suzanne blindfolds herself before kissing Bill so she can 'see' like he does."

Nathan Frontiero, Slant Magazine

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC - Alex Somers

"Ross’s sophomore effort is helped no end by Stéphane Fontaine’s cinematography and Alex Somers’ score -- but it’s the performances that linger longest. Mortensen is excellent, and George MacKay’s turn as Bo, Ben's intensely smart, capable, and yet completely un-worldly eldest child, will have you wishing that this road trip lasted a little longer."

Tom Charles, The Skinny

CHASING CORAL - Dan Romer, Saul Simon MacWilliams

"But 'Chasing Coral' doesn’t exactly lead with despondency; that’s for the end. Out of the gate, Orlowski is gung-ho on creating a nautical thriller, featuring men at sea, miles away from the outside world. He employs many of the methods used in 'Chasing Ice': The score is reminiscent of what you’d hear in a Jason Bourne movie -- quick, brooding percussion, sparse (but ominous) piano, a well-endowed string section. Orlowski knows how to establish atmosphere. He wants us to be enveloped by the water."

Sam Fragoso, The Wrap

"Driven by lush scoring from composers Dan Romer and Saul Simon MacWilliams and propulsive editing from Davis Coombe, the film becomes a suspenseful race against time to lock in bleaching evidence. Camera units are placed in at-risk underwater locations in Bermuda, the Bahamas and Hawaii, but the trial-and-error results of the new technology prove problematic."

"What Greengrass, Rouse and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd do is trancelike, frankly, and it gives 'Jason Bourne' -- like the other movies, thick with set pieces that zigzag from computer screens to talking heads to street-level danger in far-flung places -- a beautifully brutalizing rhythm. (The sound design, too, is top notch, as is the propulsive score by John Powell and David Buckley.)"

Robert Abele, The Wrap

"That aside, though, 'Bourne' is numbing in its relentless, repetitive pursuit sequences, some of which add absolutely nothing to the story except wrecked cars and extra minutes. The action setpieces are designed for maximum impact: the pursuit amid a full-scale riot in Athens is particularly beautifully choreographed, and executed on an impressive scale, with a pounding score revs up the adrenaline. But scene after scene brings in the same dynamic, frantic cutting, and constantly shifting angles."

Tasha Robinson, The Verge

"For a completely unnecessary movie, 'Jason Bourne' isn’t bad. The problem is right there, though -- there’s no good reason for Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass to return to the spy franchise that dominated action filmmaking in the 2000s, especially not for what amounts to a somewhat predictable greatest hits tour through the previous films' biggest moments. There are occasional scenes where 'Jason Bourne' film perks up. There’s even a new character, played by Oscar winner Alicia Vikander, who feels like a worthwhile addition to the Bourne mythos. But the overall feeling is of one too many trips back to the well, only this time there are lots and lots and lots of scenes where people stare intently at computers while throbbing music plays -- it’s 'Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing' reimagined as an action film."

Todd VanDerWerff, Vox

"In many ways, 'Jason Bourne' is the most unsettling movie in the series, seeing as it points to a vast conspiracy directed at the American people, and Greengrass’ style -- rendered visceral via the marriage of Barry Ackroyd’s on-the-fly lensing, a tense techno score, and Rouse’s cutting-room trickery -- lends itself nicely to an era in which shadow forces rely on such tools as satellite surveillance and facial-recognition software. In one scene reminiscent of Alex Gibney’s recent -Zero Days- documentary, Vikander’s Lee hacks the Reykjavik power grid. In another, she wipes a laptop by tapping into the nearest cell phone."

Peter Debruge, Variety

LIGHTS OUT - Benjamin Wallfisch

"David F. Sandberg directed this trim, tightly wound horror film, which is based on his 2013 short. This version, written by Eric Heisserer, opens up the minimalist story to focus on a sleepless boy (Gabriel Bateman) who, along with his disturbed mom (Maria Bello), is haunted by a vicious, shadowy female figure that materializes when the lights go out. Essentially, the movie is one big 'Boo!' reel, punctuated by bursts of music that provide a helpful lift to the scares. Sandberg’s tense, inky camera style draws the eye to the film’s dark corners. Although the movie doesn’t offer much in the way of characterization, its cheap thrills are manufactured effectively, like an amusement-park ride designed to rattle the nerves."

Bruce Diones, The New Yorker

MARIE CURIE: THE COURAGE OF KNOWLEDGE - Bruno Coulais

"A Schubert-esque score and an extremely pretty, dappled cinematography make 'Marie Curie' a compelling portrait of an undeniably important woman. But her victory over the oppressive French academy structures the plot, leaving the viewer stranded at the moment of Curie’s triumphant second Nobel. It is as if, after Curie’s lifetime, no other woman would ever suffer discrimination in science. It is as if public vindication were the only thing that ever happened in her life."

Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic

"Even in the film’s most melodramatic interludes, with only the essential academic details to work with, Gruszka’s reserved, intelligent performance does a fine job of projecting the stern intellect and unwavering seriousness of conviction that ultimately made a mockery of Curie’s archaic detractors. The consistency of her presence stands in contrast to her director’s restless, fluttering command of tone, which nonetheless doesn’t feel entirely haphazard: As the mood and aesthetic switch from florid to frosty, with Bruno Coulais’s busy score racing to keep track, one senses Noelle’s style stretching, with mixed success, to define Marie Curie herself as something of a polymath. 'My beaming radium queen,' Langevin addresses her at one point -- not the most apposite of descriptions, perhaps, but 'The Courage of Knowledge' at least goes some way towards brightening the worthy, colorless genius of a million history textbooks."

Guy Lodge, Variety

MILES - Justin Bell, Jonathan Levi Shanes

"There's little that's surprising in 'Miles,' which isn't helped by flat visuals and an over-reliance on wispy, whimsical music to establish its sweet serio-comedy tone. And while all the requisite elements are in place for minor-key laughs with periodic shots of adrenaline provided by the sports scenes, the film's rhythms are never quite as sharp or as driving as they should be."

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

MOSCOW NEVER SLEEPS - Roman Litvnov

"'Moscow Never Sleeps' is engaging, but there are only a few occasions when it feels genuinely inspired. A slow-mo montage set to a melodic piano motif within Roman Litvnov’s pleasant score comes closest to the kind of choral effect achieved in O’Reilly’s obvious touch point, Paul Thomas Anderson’s 'Magnolia.' And some of the vignettes brush against challenging questions of how traditional Russian values of familial duty and loyalty can possibly synthesize with the demands of the modern urban lifestyle. But refreshing as it is to see a vision of Moscow so unusually unencumbered by social critique or political allegory, mostly the absence of that subtext gives 'Moscow Never Sleeps' its brittle, surface-level feel."

Jessica Kiang, Variety

ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENICE - Jeff Cardoni

"Other tech contributions are sleeker, with Amir Mokri’s widescreen lensing playing off both the sun-bleached dilapidation and scuzzy neon allure of the film’s very particular (and, to its credit, heavily used) Venice Beach locale. Jeff Cardoni’s score and accompanying jukebox soundtrack are appropriately all over the place, though if the frequent injections of 1960s surf guitar were intended to channel the dizzy Los Angeleno rush (and Bruce Willis glory days) of Quentin Tarantino’s 'Pulp Fiction,' the evocation isn’t exactly flattering."

Guy Lodge, Variety

THE ORNITHOLOGIST - Severine Ballon

"To be sure, 'The Ornithologist' is a challenging work that doesn’t provide easy answers -- and, in fact, requires that one accept that its highly sexualized enigmas (fingers entering and exiting bodily gashes; bodily transformations; topless female riflewomen on horseback, beating their chests and crying out in celebration) aren’t necessarily altogether decodable. 'There are certain things we shouldn’t try to understand. They come to pass and we must believe in them,' says Fernando toward story’s end, and it’s a lesson Rodrigues demands we heed. Less a straightforward drama than a winding, haunting reverie about a lost outsider searching for acceptance and companionship -- in terms of both the flesh and the spirit -- it glides along to the beat of its own strange drum, its strident string score evoking terror, and its unhurried visuals exuding trancelike beauty. It’s a film about the universal desire for greater understanding (of ourselves, and the world around us) that itself is, in a sense, incomprehensible. Intrepid moviegoers would be wise to fall under its spell."

Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

"Rodrigues’ regular cinematographer, Rui Pocas, films the birds in a way that suggests Fernando/Anthony not only observes them but they are simultaneously observing him, so when he happens upon a white dove -- i.e., the Holy Spirit -- there’s a sense of interaction and equality even though the animal doesn’t speak. Similarly adding meaning is composer Severine Ballon’s shrill-sounding, almost droning score. It not only conjures a sense of mystique but also suggests the lead’s steady momentum; once Fernando finds himself on his journey, there is no stopping him. If Anthony is the patron saint of things lost -- no wonder he’s also the patron saint of Portugal, the country that invented the concept of saudade -- he has definitely found himself by the film’s end."

Boyd van Hoeij, Hollywood Reporter

SANTOALLA - Andrew Becker

"Becker and Mehrer often fall foul of the contemporary curse of documentarians worldwide, relying too heavily on background music to underline each and every mood and development. Their mishandling of the grainy courtroom footage is a particularly egregious example of this, with crashingly intrusive percussion making it sound as if proceedings had been invaded by a maniacal drummer. Elsewhere their inexperience is much less apparent. They profitably linger on the picturesque environs of Santoalla while Margo recounts her side of events; the duo returns for a brief coda in which the conundrum of Martin's vanishing is finally (and somewhat abruptly) explained."

Neil Young, Hollywood Reporter

SHEIKH JACKSON - Hani Adel

"The sole serious deficiency here is a total absence of any Michael Jackson music. Unable to license any original songs, Salama is forced to fall back on Hani Adel's pastiche score, a weak approximation of the late star's whooping, propulsive, high-gloss sound. Adel's music becomes particularly cloying during the finale, when Khaled lays the ghosts of the past to rest a little too glibly before moonwalking off into the sunset. The women are also too thinly drawn in this carnival of male angst, most of them Islamic Pixie Dream Girls with little agency or personality. But beyond these niggling flaws, 'Sheikh Jackson' still emerges as an endearingly offbeat and humane parable about the liberating power of forgiveness, starting with yourself."

September 9
BARRY LYNDON (Leonard Rosenman) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE LAST OF THE SIX (Jean Alfaro), THE ASSASSIN LIVES AT 21 (Maurice Yvain) [Cinematheque: Aero]

THINGS I'VE HEARD, READ, SEEN OR WATCHED LATELY

So far this series of column post-scripts has been focused mostly on older movies and TV shows I've re-watched lately -- 2001, The Birds, the earliest Star Trek episodes -- but I haven't written about what I've been listening to, and this is, of course, largely a website about film scores. Here is a list of some of the CDs I've listened to at home in the last few months:

It might seem like a random list, but there is a pattern (with me, there's always a pattern). As an obsessive soundtrack collector, I'm reminded of a joke, which turns out to be from comedian Steven Wright:

"You can't have everything. Where would you put it?"

It's hard to imagine more of a First World Problem than having a large soundtrack collection and trying to decide what to listen to next, but to keep from myself standing in front of my CD shelves in a catatonic trance, I have developed a complex system of playlists.

First, the AA list -- these are the very few scores that I feel that need to be played right away. Most of these, like Colossus: The Forbin Project, get played once, but ones I've literally been waiting most of my life for, like Damnation Alley and The Valley of Gwangi, get played over and over and over again for days in a row.

That brings us to the A and B lists. In the old days, I would listen to a new CD at least twice before putting it on the shelf, but when I finally began my full-time day job a dozen or so years ago, my ability to purchase CDs increased while my available time to listen to them declined drastically. Since I was having trouble getting caught up with my CD listening, I started making a list of every disc purchased from that point on, which I call the B List. If a score was of special interest and demanded to be played sooner, it got on the A List, and every second CD I listen to is chosen from the start of the A list.

(As you might have figured out by now, there's a really good reason why I put this stuff only at the very end of the column. Feel free to bail at any time. I won't judge.)

Another list is what I call "Unheard Composers." These are composers for whom I have many CDs that I've never played. For pretty much every composer I own some discs I haven't got around to playing yet, but for others that list gets into the double digits (Pascal Gaigne and Blake Neely are rapidly rising on that list). For an "unheard" composer, I go through the B list in chronological order and listen to every one of their CDs I haven't played, along with each one I simply feel like listening to again. So far, I've covered Elmer Bernstein, John Debney, Georges Delerue, Mark Isham, Bear McCreary, John Powell, Brian Tyler and Hans Zimmer, and right now it's Alan Silvestri. Silvestri is taking a while, because though when I started with Silvestri there were only 20 of his CD I hadn't played yet, as I go through the B list there are countless Silvestri scores I simply wanted to hear again. Next up is Gabriel Yared.

The next list what I cleverly like to call "Ennio Morricone," because though I've been listening to Morricone scores ever since I bought the Days of Heaven LP about 40 years ago, it's only in the last few years that he's actually become a favorite of mine, so to better familiarize with myself with his gargantuan body of work, I am listening to each of his scores in chronological order. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage from 1970 is in my CD player as I type this, which means I have nearly 50 years of Morricone to catch up on.

That brings us to the latest list that I've added, which is what I call the "A-plus list." The A-list has become so long that I'm only now getting around to listening to some CDs I bought over two years ago (the Kaplans were pleased when I told them my elaborate listening system meant that I'd played Zombeavers before I played The Force Awakens), so I decided to start moving certain A-list scores to the new A-plus-list, CDs like Alien: Covenant, The Post and War for the Planet of the Apes.

So for those still reading, here's what a schedule of my listening might look like:

And that is how I decide what to listen to, and how I avoid falling into a catatonic trance while staring at my CD shelves. Any catatonic trance you may have induced by reading this post-script is your own responsibility. Here there be dragons. Look not into the abyss lest it look into you. And so on.

Transfer everything to a form of digital player. Choose what you wanna hear as and when the mood dictates. To avoid the shelf/catatonic state mode, switch to random track or unit play, when you lose the ability to make that decision for yourself. ;)

You only just noticed? I've been reading so many reviews for each film that for a very long time, I'm only caught up to about two years ago.

But that's just for the movies I've actually seen. For the films I haven't seen, the reviews are caught up to about one year ago (for foreign and other indie films, there are much fewer reviews than for the latest big studio product)

You only just noticed? I've been reading so many reviews for each film that for a very long time, I'm only caught up to about two years ago.

But that's just for the movies I've actually seen. For the films I haven't seen, the reviews are caught up to about one year ago (for foreign and other indie films, there are much fewer reviews than for the latest big studio product)

Think of it as a guide for tracking down scores on home video.

I hadn’t noticed! I was just reading the titles and thinking, “Wait a minute, they made another movie called Captain Fantastic already??”

If anyone can get me there, I think it's Stromberg. I'm understanding The Golden Age much more after hearing his re-recordings.

I'm somewhat with you on Tiomkin. He's definitely my least favorite of the Golden Age A-list, though I love The Thing from Another World and have fondness for others, especially Dial M and the 60s epics.

To me, each generation of film composers has one A-lister who isn't up the caliber of the rest, either musically or dramatically. There are three specific ones I'm thinking of, Tiomkin being the earliest. All are capable of fine scores, but overall I find their musical/dramatic approach inelegant, and for me elegance (as I think of it -- not in a tuxedo and cocktail quips way) is one of the hallmarks of a great film composer. I don't want to mention the other two by name, one of whom has passed on and one of whom is still working regularly, for fear of turning this into one of THOSE threads.

Fall of the Roman Empire is definitely one of the Tiomkins I'd be most likely to give a spin for sheer listening pleasure. It's a rare joy when a composer maintains -- or even expands -- their gifts towards the end of their career.

Tiomkin is a hit-and-miss composer for me, though of the scores of his I've heard, Fall of the Roman Empire is my absolute favorite of his (with Land of the Pharaohs slowly but surely rising in my list). While I can't say I'm fond of Dial M, I share hopes for the project's success and have tried to spread the word about it as I mentioned in the buildup thread.